tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post9057501767710671048..comments2024-03-29T01:11:38.129-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE HIRELING 1973Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-87145885335392586362015-11-04T06:48:19.167-08:002015-11-04T06:48:19.167-08:00Hi Joel
I'd forgotten this film myself until i...Hi Joel<br />I'd forgotten this film myself until it cropped up on GetTV one night. It's so rare to find a sought-after film that you'd given up on. Its TV broadcast was in some way tied into its sudden availability as one of those made to order DVDs. I think you can still buy it on Amazon, but who wants to buy a film just to see it? You might not like it.<br /><br />Robert Shaw is really wonderful and I even think this film would overcome basic reservations about Sarah Miles. I was just so impressed.<br />Now I REALLY want to see Lady Caroline Lamb! But seeing Cat Dancing once was plenty. I saw it at theater when it opened and loathed it then.<br />Because so many movies are available now, it's fun to harbor a few Holy Grail titles one has yet to see. The feeling when one at last unearths them takes me back to the pre VHS days when anticipation was always part of being a film fan. I don't get that satisfaction often these days, so the feeling is sublime.<br />Thanks, Joel!<br /><br />Just seeing it brought back remember wanting to see it when i was , and it was such a thrill to see a film from then Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-22008222365689044612015-11-03T16:36:41.664-08:002015-11-03T16:36:41.664-08:00Hi Ken,
Well you certainly went deep for this one...Hi Ken,<br /><br />Well you certainly went deep for this one. I've never heard of it but it sounds heavenly. I LOVE Return of the Soldier so anything by the same director with a similar theme is like catnip, the only downside seems to be its unavailability.<br /><br />I've never been the biggest fan of Sarah Miles finding her among her contemporaries, Christie, Jackson, York and a few others, the most wan and usually the least memorable on screen. I don't think I've ever seen her where I'd say she's awful just unexceptional so I am always willing to give her another chance. Whatever my problems with Miles I have none with Shaw. Though he's sometimes over the top he's always a very strong presence.<br /><br />Someone else mentioned Lady Caroline Lamb, God is that an awful picture! Films like that and that dreadful Cat Dancing movie, along with that scandal and a lack of dynamism in her persona, are why her time at the top was so short.<br /><br />I sense that this is now going to become a Holy Grail title for me, as Three Secrets with Patricia Neal, Eleanor Parker and Ruth Roman and The Lady Pays Off with my beloved Linda Darnell are, but from your description the wait will be worth it. Thanks for the tip!joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-45045551791609441732015-10-25T18:59:19.435-07:002015-10-25T18:59:19.435-07:00How I wish I had seen that episode! Just the thoug...How I wish I had seen that episode! Just the thought of Dinah and Glenda Jackson together is enough to make me smile, but Dinah "going there" just makes it perfect.<br />When I tried to see if this episode was available online anywhere, I discovered it had something to do with promoting Robert Altman's film "HealtH" which starred Jackson and in whcih Dinah appeared as herself (I saw the film many years ago and don't remember her, though).<br /><br />I also saw when Glenda jackson laid into Margaret Thatcher. Brilliant. I wish we had someone even remotely as eloquent here to do the same for Trump.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-49489250306538116222015-10-24T16:06:42.378-07:002015-10-24T16:06:42.378-07:00Thanks so much. YES! I have seen it. Great stuff...Thanks so much. YES! I have seen it. Great stuff.<br />Glenda J. stepped down from Parliament this summer and will be returning to the theater as a 104 year old woman via a radio play based on an Emile Zola novel.<br />Good news indeed!Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072841840657518591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-22048669677673656382015-10-24T13:26:31.216-07:002015-10-24T13:26:31.216-07:00If you have not seen it, check out now-Member-of- ...If you have not seen it, check out now-Member-of- Parliament Glenda Jackson's comments upon the death of Margaret Thatcher. If you can guess, Dame Glenda and Baroness Thatcher were definitely not on the place on the political spectrum! <br /><br />https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W0G2r7G96RYDiscoDollyDebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-66244571029380629832015-10-24T11:44:44.465-07:002015-10-24T11:44:44.465-07:00Many years ago (May 25, 1979 to be exact) I flippe...Many years ago (May 25, 1979 to be exact) I flipped on the TV to something called DINAH ! a daytime talk show hosted by none other than the vivaciously, down-home Dinah Shore. Standing next to her looking like an awkward Amazon in too small Catholic Girl school uniform was none other than GLENDA JACKSON making her Mum's trifle for Dinah in a TV kitchen set. <br /><br />I thought I had somehow slipped through some time space warp. <br />Did someone slip me a hallucinogen, I wondered? <br /><br />GLENDA??? WITH DINAH??? ON "DINAH !" ????<br /><br />Dinah turned to the camera and said in her oh-so sincere 'Southern Style of hers: " Why Glenda we're all so glad you're here makin' us that yummy lookin' dessert. We tried to find some pictures of you from your most recent film to show the studio audience, but you never seem to have any clothes on, Hunny"<br /><br />Well, let me tell you Glenda worked that lower massive jaw of hers and had a glower on her face that looked like she was ready to slap old Dinah right smack into the middle of next week.<br /><br />I'll never forget it.Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072841840657518591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-32934307164979202592015-10-24T02:55:17.393-07:002015-10-24T02:55:17.393-07:00Hi Gregory
Happy to hear you're familiar with ...Hi Gregory<br />Happy to hear you're familiar with this film. And, as I see, you're also very familiar with Sarah Miles and her screen orgasm technique. I remember when i was growing up how critics always tore into Glenda jackson for jumping out of her clothes role after role, and Sarah Miles for just what you detailed above. <br />I remember the Playboy pictorial of Miles and Kristofferson for "Sailor..." they made the sex act look quite painful, yet photogenic.<br /><br />I've always wanted to see "Lady Caroline Lamb", but like this film, it's very hard to track down in any form and never shows up on cable. <br /><br />I see that "Term of Trial" is available for rent on YouTube. I've never seen the film, but I came across it researching this post. Seems Miles claims to have had an affair with Olivier while making it. She does get around. thanks for the recommendation, it does sound interesting.<br /><br />Lastly, I'm so glad you brought up "The Forsythe Saga"! Not because I've seen it (I haven't) but because it was a part of youthful pop culture awareness that had completely slipped my mind. No one ever talks about it!<br />Much appreciate your checking out this post, Gregory, and for your amusingly detailed description of Sarah Miles' ...legacy. Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-62410726944236679042015-10-23T18:28:44.582-07:002015-10-23T18:28:44.582-07:00Look for Peter Glenville's TERM OF TRIAL 1962....Look for Peter Glenville's TERM OF TRIAL 1962. A forgotten British kitchen sink drama gem. Laurence Olivier as an alcoholic school teacher trapped in a loveless marriage to Simone Signoret is brilliant and nearly unrecognizable. Sarah Miles plays the student who falls for himand brings change into his life. Very interesting early effort by Miles.Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072841840657518591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-21184827182944542952015-10-23T14:04:35.407-07:002015-10-23T14:04:35.407-07:00So ole Sarahkins is a Pee-Chugger?
Wow, who knew? ...So ole Sarahkins is a Pee-Chugger?<br />Wow, who knew? Well at least she isn't up to a variant on Richard Gere's . . .um . . . alleged PAR-TIC-U-LARITY [heh, heh] <br />The things I learn on this blog.<br /><br />Saw this fine film in a Rep House with either THE GO-BETWEEN or Christopher Miles (Sarah's brother) lovely, quiet take on the DH Lawrence's THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY --- another good one.<br /><br />Yes, really fine film here as were the nuanced performances. (PARTICULARLY Shaw) Wish Miles and Shaw had gotten down [second smutty chuckle] as Lady Chatterley and her Gamekeeper --- they're almost doin' that here.<br /><br />Back in the day, I referred to "Her Actress-ship" as Sarah "The Big 'O'" Miles given her cinema signature semaphore of Crestin' the Coital Wave.<br /><br />1) Moistening eyes <br />2) Descending breath rhythm <br />3) gradually half-opening mouth with glistening and pouty lower lip.<br />3) Right to left, right to left, right to left, searching for her Self in her lover's eyes gesture,<br />4) sleek, Herbal Essenced Cher-hair flipped back-and-behind in a Reichian Orgone-energy ripple effect,' <br />5) eyes rolling back half-closed with head tipping back and away, with lover's head turned sideway's and pulled to her chest all to the soundtrack of a slow, deep-to-the-vagina inhalation and then ----<br /><br />CUT! <br /><br />It was the 60s and '70s after all. ; )<br /><br />[For examples of the above, please see BLOWUP, RYAN'S DAUGHTER (luv that one! --- and it happens twice in a row in the restored version) and THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA. (which is essentially '70s art-house porno)]<br /><br />Your Lady Hamilton faux pas may actually be sourced in a dim memory of the dim-witted potboiler called LADY CAROLINE LAMB which she starred in with Richard Chamberlain as her Lord Byron. Bolt wrote and directed this. I half-expected it to be the start of a Bolt/Miles franchise arriving under the banner "Historical Hot Tamales of the Silver Screen" co-starring a Stud-de-jour. No such luck. : (<br /><br />I must join the DOWNTOWN CRABBIES and say how awful I think that series is --- Sorry, Ken! UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS arrived too late after too many previous like-minded movies/series for me to really enjoy it as it really deserved. For me, The Jewel in the Class-Riven Crown was, BBC 2's THE FORSYTHE SAGA 1967 with Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Margaret Tyzack, Kenneth Moore and a very young Susan Hampshire. I saw the first broadcast here in the States and even at 26 episodes, it was MAG-NI-FIQUE!Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072841840657518591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-38058444848462877902015-10-21T10:06:57.679-07:002015-10-21T10:06:57.679-07:00Hi Poseidon
Thank god you zero in on the so-called...Hi Poseidon<br />Thank god you zero in on the so-called "least meaningful aspects" (aka, the most fun)!<br />I feel the same as you about not really being able to separate my thoughts of Sarah Miles from that urine therapy thing. I'm not sure when i first heard of it but I tend to associate it with the time she appeared in 1978's "The Big Sleep" and Robert Mitchum sort of let the cat out of the bag in an interview.<br />Oh, and your mention of Movieline...that was my favorite film rag back in the day. So irreverent and full of amazing trivia.<br /><br />And that whole murder/suicide thing during the making of that Burt Reynolds film, I still remember. It felt like one of those situations where everybody rallies around to protect a celebrity (like Natalie Wood's death). Sometimes when I read about Burt Reynolds and what he was like, I can't help but think karma is kicking his ass about now.<br />I know from visiting your site that you've been busier than usual of late, so it makes it all the more gratifying that you take time out to not only read, but so entertainingly comment on my posts. Thanks! Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-57690071896972330422015-10-21T09:56:02.173-07:002015-10-21T09:56:02.173-07:00Thanks for the invite, Crystal and got your email....Thanks for the invite, Crystal and got your email. I love Stanwyck!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-91888903153966052512015-10-21T09:46:20.834-07:002015-10-21T09:46:20.834-07:00Hi GOM
I too associate the early 70s with the kind...Hi GOM<br />I too associate the early 70s with the kind of British film you describe. I wonder when it no longer became “appropriate” or funny to depict the upper classes poking fun at the lower? Certainly those Angry Young Man movies and kitchen sink dramas s of 60s imbued the working classes with a dignity they were’t afforeded earlier.<br />I only recently saw Shaw in "The Birthday Party", and while not a period piece, it was another indictment of British society of the sort that always makes me think of the late 60s and 70s as being a rich time for these kinds of films.<br /><br />I'm never sure what actual Brits think of a film like "The Hireling", but I know that we seem to respond to them favorably. The depiction of class bigotry and snobbery is always so genteel and "civilized" compared to what we Yanks might delve into were we to cover a similar time in our own past.<br />But the lack of heavy-handedness is one of "The Hireling"s chief assets. The film is so beautifully shot and the performances so rich, the social themes only serve to embellish the personal drama. <br /><br />I like that you mentioned the scene from "Imitation of Life" - that's exactly the kind of detail I like in movies. With the current dialog in Hollywood these days being about the need for diverse voices in the writing and production end of things if we want diverse stories, perhaps there will come a time when our own “class” issues will be depicted onscreen from the perspective of those on the receiving end. <br />Up to now it seems so many films have reflected the point of view of the well-meaning liberal needing to cleanse their soul (the Poitier legacy). It’s an admirable sentiment, but it’s still the same voice.<br />Thanks for such a well-considered comment! Hope you manage to check out “The Hireling “ sometime. I’m certain you’ll enjoy it!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-8787061838943390312015-10-21T09:20:18.059-07:002015-10-21T09:20:18.059-07:00What you describe sounds like the US - only add an...What you describe sounds like the US - only add anti-intellectualism, xenophobia, racism cloaked in religious dogma, and the belief that ignorance combined with hate is now a legitimate conservative platform.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-25233079227429802742015-10-21T09:00:37.944-07:002015-10-21T09:00:37.944-07:00This was a very interesting read about a film I...This was a very interesting read about a film I've not been at all familiar with, so I hope I'll see it sometime. I was immediately struck by the shot of Elizabeth Sellars as I love "flinty" characters like that! To zero in on the least meaningful aspects, I wanted to scream when you mentioned Sarah Miles and her urine therapy!! I read that same thing back in the day and it never left my mind. It's one of the things I always associate with her. (Was it in Movieline magazine, perhaps? I worshiped that periodical, always full of information one could never find elsewhere.) I was reading a Burt Reynolds bio several years ago and when I got to the anticipated part about "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing," some asshat had cut two pages out right there!!! What a crazy instance that was for ol' Burt and Sarah. Thanks for another compelling review/tribute.Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-41077467773099800072015-10-21T07:10:21.594-07:002015-10-21T07:10:21.594-07:00Hi Kenneth,
I've sent you an email, but I wan...Hi Kenneth,<br /><br />I've sent you an email, but I wanted to make sure you receive it. I'm letting you know that I'm hosting another blogathon for next year and would love to invite you to participate. The link is below with more details<br /><br />https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2015/10/19/announcing-the-remembering-barbara-stanwyck-blogathon/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-61113812418294408272015-10-21T06:17:52.521-07:002015-10-21T06:17:52.521-07:00Unfortunately we'll never escape from class as...Unfortunately we'll never escape from class as a nation. Nowadays it has just taken on a slightly different form of the have and have nots - the proletariat succumbing to this strange, sickening deification of celebrity and businessmen. But the Conservatives are doing their upmost to continue to widen the gap between the upper class and the working class with their strict austerity measures and yes, Fellows once wrote the speeches for the man implementing these cuts to our welfare state, a man with blood on his hands.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14569732807130090838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-61689301030054687472015-10-21T06:12:17.651-07:002015-10-21T06:12:17.651-07:00Hi Ken,
I've heard of The Hireling but had nev...Hi Ken,<br />I've heard of The Hireling but had never seen it, but after reading your lovely post, I definitely want to check it out. The time in which it was made (early-mid 70s) seems to make it part of a wave of films of that era that recreated the whole Britain-Between-The-Wars aesthetic (The Go-Between, also a Hartley adaptation, The Hunting Party), combining it with a criticism of both the class divide and the repressed, stiff-upper-lip British upper-class character. My impression of earlier British films (40s-50s) that presented the 2 classes in conjunction was to make the situation rather comic--the humorous (from the upper-class point of view) Cockney servants interacting with their 'betters,' that sort of thing; but I gather this later examination of the British class divide may have come out of the "Angry Young Man" era of the 50s,as well as the rise of the working-class movie-star actor of the 60s (such luminaries as Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Michael Caine--all came from working-class backgrounds).<br /><br />I think you're so right that in the U.S. we haven't examined our own class divide (we still live by the myth of the 'classless' society). Your description of how the Sarah Miles character is unaware of her maid's private sorrow (with her blind son) reminded me of that scene in the 1959 Imitation of Life, when Lana Turner is shocked to discover that her maid Juanita Moore actually has a vibrant private life and many friends connected with her church--it never occurs to Lana's character that someone working for her has a life of her own! And then there's the career of Sidney Poitier, who was embraced by white audiences because he seemed to have been the Jackie Robinson equivalent of African-American actors, someone who never can reveal his real feelings. I think Poitier finally had to make his own films to get some reality into his portrayals of black life (and which may explain his long absences from the screen--he couldn't find films that would let him do so).<br /><br />Thanks, as always, for your terrific, perceptive posts!Grand Old Movieshttp://grandoldmovies.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-50877358943340156052015-10-20T17:47:36.282-07:002015-10-20T17:47:36.282-07:00I never knew that about Churchill! Happily, I see ...I never knew that about Churchill! Happily, I see "That Hamilton Woman" is on YouTube! And thanks for the tip on the Sontag book. I've never read Sontag, but I've always been fascinated by the whole Lord Nelson /Lady Hamilton thing. Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-73398625507840626492015-10-20T16:59:48.038-07:002015-10-20T16:59:48.038-07:00Fun fact: "That Hamilton Woman" (with Vi...Fun fact: "That Hamilton Woman" (with Vivian Leigh and Lawrence Olivier) was Winston Churchill's favorite movie. You'll find it world's away from the (undoubtedly more accurate) Glenda Jackson-Peter Finch film. Also, don't know how you feel about Susan Sontag, but her novel, THE VOLCANO LOVER, covers a lot of the same material about Lady Hamilton's affair with Nelson.DiscoDollyDebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-51488624263939450322015-10-20T16:57:23.980-07:002015-10-20T16:57:23.980-07:00Hi Mark
Thanks very much for the compliment. I mus...Hi Mark<br />Thanks very much for the compliment. I must confess that you were on my mind while writing this piece, for I wanted to drop you a line and see if I understood the whole postwar British class system thing correctly (I wasn't sure if it disappeared altogether by the 1920s).<br /><br />Anyhow, I appreciate your words regarding my theory about why UK class-conflict narratives are so popular here.<br />Also, none of my British friends seem to be able to stand "Downton Abbey"! Also, I had no idea Julian Fellows was a conservative. Ick!<br /><br />I somehow carried with me the impression that he was a liberal gay man? (Projection perhaps, because nearly all my gay friends are "Downton Abbey " fans)Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-77217007961082412732015-10-20T16:43:40.328-07:002015-10-20T16:43:40.328-07:00Ha! Oh, my god...you have no idea how I struggled ...Ha! Oh, my god...you have no idea how I struggled NOT to revert to calling Lady Franklin, Lady Hamilton (for some reason, what's stuck in my head is Glenda Jackson playing opposite Peter Finch in "The Nelson Affair"). Anyhow, I even used the "find" tool to make sure there were no "Hamiltons" to be found. Alas, just toward the end (when I thought I had the problem licked) you discover a Hamilton here, a Hamilton there. Thanks for catching it, all is settled, but it still makes me laugh to think how quickly my fingers went to type Hamilton after I wrote the word "Lady" (It didn't help that I've been listening to the "Hamilton" original Broadway cast album nonstop, either).<br />Back to the movie: I'm a big fan of "The Go Between", but this movie somehow got by me. Seeing it just last month, I was stunned by what a terrific film it was. I mean, nobody seems to talk of it and noone seems to have seen it.<br />I confess to have never seen "Upstairs Downstairs" when it was originally on, but after I fell in love with "Downton Abbey" I tried looking at an episode and (don't hate me) I couldn't abide it. <br />I guess it really matters which one you're exposed to first. <br />Hope you get around to checking this out. I enjoyed it so much.<br />Now I think I have to scope out that Vivien movie!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-82508841406275310832015-10-20T16:09:28.203-07:002015-10-20T16:09:28.203-07:00That final Stuff of Dreams wrap up, where you comp...That final Stuff of Dreams wrap up, where you compare and contrast these films from my side of the pond with the lack of similar conflict based films on your side, is very intelligently done. A great read.<br /><br />But no, I still cannot abide Downright Shabby. Maybe its the fact that I can't allow myself to watch something written by Julian Fellows, the most obnoxious Tory and former speech writer for Iain Duncan Smith. YukMarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14569732807130090838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-25268485068380967702015-10-20T15:59:01.520-07:002015-10-20T15:59:01.520-07:00I've never heard of this before--although I lo...I've never heard of this before--although I love "The Go-Between" (both the novel and the film), another Hartley work about how the upper-class use and amuse themselves with the working-classes and then rely on their position and wealth to cover up everything. I was also a huge fan of "Upstairs, Downstairs," which may be one of the reasons I can't get into "Downton Abbey"--it strikes me as Upstairs, Downstairs-lite (don't hate me!). Anyway, I'll certainly seek this film out now.<br /><br />One small comment: about halfway through your essay, you refer to Miles's character as Lady Hamilton. Did I miss a name change--or were you channeling your inner Vivian Leigh fan?DiscoDollyDebnoreply@blogger.com